


Breach

by Braincoins



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Making Out, Post S7, Post Season 7, Sex Pollen, Shiro's clearly an ass man, also there's space pirates, and legs, and that whole general area, bi!shiro, vomit warning but we don't go into it in great detail
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-08 00:47:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15919548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Braincoins/pseuds/Braincoins
Summary: TheAtlashas been sabotaged and things get a little too hot for Shiro to handle.





	Breach

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, it's a sex pollen fic and it's _Mature_ , not Explicit. I know, I know.
> 
> Yes, I threw in a "Star Trek" reference because I CAN, DAMMIT. Also space pirates, because, after all, Everything's Better With Pirates.
> 
> Oh and "IFF," if you're not familiar, means "Identify Friend or Foe." There's usually a signal or code of some sort that friendly ships will transmit so you know not to open fire on them. You don't typically need IFF for your own nation's/planet's/people's ships, but for a strange ship coming in like that, you'd want to ask. If they don't know the code, they can at least try to communicate with you to let you know their intentions.
> 
> Thanks, as always, to [pixie_rings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixie_rings/pseuds/pixie_rings) for the beta assist!   
> =======

            The _Atlas_ launch from Jenevon went smoothly enough, and they were underway once more. They had a lot of worlds to visit, to convince them all that Voltron still existed, that there was still hope out here in the universe. The people of Jenevon were wary but Shiro was hopeful. If nothing else, they’d had the chance to top up their supplies a bit. The _Atlas_ might be a wonder of Altean-Terran technology, but it didn’t have the Castle of Lion’s manufactor devices. They couldn’t just conjure what they needed.

            “Terriga and then home,” Veronica said, reminding them all of their schedule. They didn’t want to stay away from Earth too long, even with its new defense systems. The Galra knew it was a weak spot for them, that they would always show up to defend it. It gave the enemy a leash to tug on, but what else could they do? Shiro wasn’t about to just abandon Earth. None of them were willing to do that.

            Suddenly, there was a faint hissing sound. Shiro looked to the air systems and saw a faint purple gas swirling out of it. “Sam, what’s going on?” he asked.

            “I have no idea,” came the reply.

            “You’re seeing this, right? The purple smoke or gas?”

            “Yes, but I don’t know what it is.”

            “Full Alert,” he declared over the comms. “MFE pilots to your fighters; Paladins to your Lions. Everyone else, cover your nose and mouth until we know what we’re dealing with here.” Fortunately, he was in his standard issue uniform; he pulled the collar up around his face. It didn’t help much, but it was better than nothing.

            At least their main fighting forces would be safe. The fighters and Lions had their own air systems; their flight suits all had air recycling systems as well. Wouldn’t do much good to convince the universe of Voltron’s existence if the Paladins were gassed to death.

            “Trace the source. I assume we have analysis running?”

            “Aye, captain,” Sam replied. “I’m sharing data with Chief Medical Officer Crusher as well.”

            “Um… excuse me?”

            That was a voice Shiro wasn’t used to hearing over the comms. “Romelle? Is something wrong?”

            “I don’t know if this helps at all, but this smell reminds me of _lupiter_ flowers.”

            Shiro caught the rest of the bridge crew glancing at him. He shrugged. _I could get Veronica and Iverson thinking I might know it, but Coran?_ “ _Lupiter_ flowers?” he prompted.

            “Yes. We had them back h- …on the colony.” She cleared her throat. “The scent of the flowers has a, um… potent effect. On Alteans, anyway.”

            “What sort of effect?” Coran asked pointedly.

            “Um… well, it’s just that…” She sighed harshly. “It’s… arousing. It acts quickly and generally burns off just as quickly, but while you’re under its effects, you’ll, um… Be Interested,” she said significantly, “in anyone who even remotely meets your sexual preferences, so long as they’re not related to you.”

            “‘Remotely meets your sexual preference’?” Shiro asked.

            It was like he could _hear_ her blushing. “Well, for instance, if you were interested in men, then any un-related man you come across will be very, very, _very_ enticing to you, regardless of whether you’d be attracted to him when you weren’t otherwise affected. Using _lupiter_ flowers to lower someone’s inhibitions is the time-honored mark of the utter scumbag.”

            “Well.” Coran rose from his seat. “With the captain’s permission, I’d like to go to my room then. If this is the sort of thing it does to Alteans, I think it best I remove myself from temptation.”

            “Yeah, probably a good idea,” Shiro allowed. “Go ahead, Coran.”

            “I can’t imagine why someone would want to gas the ship with _lupiter_ scent though?” Romelle said.

            “Especially if it only affects Alteans,” Veronica mused. “That would seem to be…”

            Krolia’s voice broke in. “It… it doesn’t just affect Alteans…” She sounded weak and there was the unmistakable sound of retching at the end of transmission.

            “Are you okay?” Keith asked before Shiro could get the chance to.

            “The scent is sickening. _Literally_ sickening. Ugh, of all the times to come visit…”

            “I’ll be right there.”

            “Stay in your Lion, Keith,” Shiro pre-empted him. “We don’t know what effect it has on humans yet, and if you react the way Krolia does, then we’ll be down a Paladin.” The most important one, no less.

            “Listen to Shiro,” Krolia groaned. “I’ll be fine.”

            “Sir,” a crewman’s voice said over the comms, “we’ve found a few empty canisters scattered around the air circulation system.”

            “And right around the time we went to full alert, there was an airlock that blew open,” another put in. “We thought it might have been a malfunction at the time, but…”

            “Sounds like our saboteur made good their exit,” Shiro surmised. “Keaton, Brooks, good work.”

            “We’ve got a preliminary hypothesis,” Sam said.

            “Go on,” Shiro prompted.

            “We used Romelle’s information as a spring board. CMO Crusher hypothesizes that it reacts similarly on humans as it does on Alteans, but not exactly the same.”

            “How so?”

            “It primarily stimulates dopamine and vasopressin production, especially targeting the mesolimbic dopamine pathway to…”

            “English, Sam. _ENGLISH_.”

            There was a throat clearing as CMO Crusher broke in. “It enhances _existing_ attractions instead of creating temporary new ones. I think it’s also likely it will last longer on humans than on Alteans. However, with a constant stream of the stuff in the air, effect duration is kind of a moot point.”

            “That still doesn’t explain why someone would gas us with it,” Iverson muttered.

            “I’ve been comparing its chemical makeup with known races in our database,” Sam said. “For most of them, this wouldn’t be a harmless prank or an attempt at sexual assault.” He cleared his throat. “To most of the races we know, this would be deadly.”

            “Deadly?!” Shiro exclaimed.

            “It would be a very lethal neuro-toxin,” Sam confirmed. “They’d drop over dead almost instantly.”

            “Oh man, I am _so glad_ I convinced Shay to stay back on Earth,” Hunk muttered.

            “So we have to assume that our saboteur thought they were killing us all.” He shook his head. “Okay, we’re going to run on minimal crew; if you think you’re going to have a problem, confine yourself to quarters.”

            Veronica turned and cleared her throat. “Um, sir…?”

            “Go ahead,” he said.

            She thanked him and practically darted off the bridge, keeping her vision straight ahead. Shiro looked to Iverson.

            “I know I’m an attractive man, Shirogane, but you’re going to have to control yourself.”

            Shiro snorted in amusement. “I’ll try my best to behave. Sam, we have to get this stuff out of the circulation system.”

            “We’d have to filter and purify the air section by section,” Sam told him. “And, as you may have noticed, the _Atlas_ is not a small ship.”

            “Plus, this is a _gas_ ,” CMO Crusher chimed in. “It’ll seep into any porous material: clothing, blankets, etc. We need to decontaminate the entire ship _and_ crew.”

            “First things first: getting it out of the air. Sam, start with the infirmary and any sections necessary for ship function, like engineering. If someone gets too distracted in those areas, it could actually kill people. Command areas after that, and so on. I trust you to prioritize after that.”

            “Aye aye.”

            “Keith, Lance, we need to find somewhere to set down and air out the ship.”

            “Why not just head back to Jenevon?” Lance asked.

            “We likely picked up the saboteur back on Jenevon,” Shiro told him. “There _were_ still people there with Galra loyalties.”

            “Besides, we’re basically a flying plague,” Pidge put in. “Whoever gassed us thinks it’s a deadly neuro-toxin, so they were probably wearing a mask and suit.”

            “Especially since they just shot themselves out an airlock afterwards,” Hunk said.

            “If we set down on Jenevon to air out, we’ll gas the local area with something that most likely will kill anyone who’s nearby. We have to find somewhere uninhabited.”

            “Good point,” Lance said.

            Keith said, “We’re on it.”

            “Open Lion Hangars Black and Red,” Shiro said. He watched on his viewscreens as the two fastest Lions shot out into space and tore off in different directions to find a safe place to set down and air out.

            No sooner were the Lions out of sight than Iverson said, “We’ve got company!”

            Shiro watched as the viewscreens identified and magnified an incoming ship. It was large – not as large as the _Atlas_ (though not much out there was) – and sort of haphazard-looking, the space equivalent of duct tape and chicken wire. More to the point, it was heading right for them.

            “IFF?” Shiro asked.

            “They’re not responding to ours and not broadcasting anything themselves,” Iverson replied.

            “Hail the ship.”

            “Line open.”

            “Incoming vessel, this is the _IGF Atlas_ from Earth, carrier of…”

            The other ship fired.

            “Well, I guess they’re not friendly,” Iverson muttered, closing the hailing frequency.

            “Scramble the MFEs,” Shiro declared.

            “With pleasure, sir,” he heard Griffin reply.

            “That’s gotta be them,” Pidge piped up. “The ones who sabotaged the ship. Think about it: they send someone in while we’re on Jenevon and then, once we’re well away from the planet, they spike our air circulation system with a deadly gas and pop themselves out into space. Their buddies are waiting to pick them up and then they can just swoop in and help themselves to whatever they want on board. There’s little to no resistance because everyone’s dead.”

            “Pirates? You’re talking about actual space pirates,” Hunk said.

            “Pretty clever ones.”

            “And ruthless,” Allura growled.

            It was the first time Shiro’d heard her voice in all of this, and it set the hairs on the back of his neck up. He cleared his throat. “Seems likely.”

            “I’m not sure how much of a dent we’re making on this thing,” Kinkade spoke up.

            “We need more precise targets,” Leifsdottir said. “Intel on where to focus fire.”

            “Working on it,” Iverson said.

            “Shie-…” But Shiro didn’t get the chance to finish the command; a blast came in aimed straight at the bridge, blasting Shiro up against one of his panels.

            _Ugh. If Veronica were here, the shields would have already been up._ But she hadn’t been, because of the gas, and he hadn’t thought about it until too late. _Too used to having a crew that already knows what to do. Gotta work on that._

Alarms were wailing. Shiro opened his eyes to see a good chunk of the bridge on fire. The suppressors were springing into life but, more importantly, Iverson had been knocked back and was out cold on the floor.

            Shiro ran over to help him, hefting him up to haul him away from the fire and smoke. He coughed as he dragged him towards the doors. It seemed to take forever with the heat and the air filled with either smoke or carbon dioxide to smother the flames (or the _lupiter_ gas). By the time the doors opened, he was feeling a little dizzy from lack of oxygen.

            He thought he saw Allura running up towards them in her paladin uniform, faceplate of her helmet down. “Shiro!”

            “Uh, sorry, are you real?”

            She stopped and looked at him quizzically. “Of course I’m real. Why would you even…?”

            He shook his head. “Sorry, still getting used to breathing again. You should be in your Lion.”

            “I ordered Hunk and Pidge to go help the MFEs,” she told him, “so that I could come help you. How’s Iverson?”

            “He got knocked out. We need to get him to the infirmary.”

            “Here, give him to me. You focus on breathing.” She picked Iverson up as if he weighed nothing – which, for her, was likely true. She was amazingly strong – just one of many amazing things about her. Like, for example, how amazing she looked in her uniform.

            _This isn’t the time. It’s just the gas._ He ran to keep pace with her. Of course, it wasn’t _just_ the gas, at least not if Sam and Crusher’s hypothesis was correct. And even if it wasn’t, he’d been attracted to Allura for a long time. He hadn’t been willing to act on it because, well, it was never the right time and because there was no indication she’d welcome his attentions. So he’d pushed it aside; being with her was a daydream, a fantasy. It would never be reality.

            But even as his head cleared a little, he couldn’t help looking her over as they bolted for the infirmary. She looked so damn good in uniform. She looked good in everything, honestly. She… _is helping save Iverson’s life right now._

            Crusher turned to them as they came in. “What happened?” She gestured to an empty bed and Allura took Iverson over to it.

            “Knocked out by a blast that set the bridge on fire,” Shiro reported. It was easier to breathe in here; probably the result of Sam’s air purification routines running.

            “You’re okay?” she asked without looking at him. She had her attention on her patient.

            “I’m fine.”

            “I’ve got this,” she said.

            Shiro looked to Allura. “You should get back to your Lion; I have to get to the auxiliary bridge.”

            “I can help,” she insisted.

            “You can help more taking out that…” The _Atlas_ rocked and there was the screech of metal on metal. “What the…?”

            “They might be trying to board. Common pirate tactic,” she pointed out.

            “Take out whoever’s still capable of putting up a fight,” he agreed. “Great. Let’s go.” There was no time to argue with her. He would have preferred she be in Blue for any number of reasons, not least of which was that she’d stop being such a distraction to him, but knowing that they were all in danger was proving a big help in keeping his head clear.

            He ran full out for the auxiliary bridge. Once there, he could reassert command, coordinate countermeasures… As he rounded a corner, he screeched to a halt. “Sonofa…”

            Part of the ceiling had collapsed, burying the hallway in rubble. “Is there another way?” Allura asked from behind him.

            “Yes. It’ll take longer, but…” He flinched away from a blast that went past him and into the wall.

            One of the pirate boarding parties was right behind them, all of them masked and suited. They were ridiculously-armed from the looks of it: high-powered laser rifles, knives, metal-coated knuckles. They practically bristled with weapons. This was going to be a fun fight.

            Allura had her bayard in her hand and was charging before Shiro had even finished his evaluation. But once he had his plan of action in mind, he set about executing it. He ran and ducked into a roll to avoid more blasts, already sending his right hand forward to punch his first target in the face. He came up with a left hook into the same pirate’s gut, then grabbed hold and used him as a shield against another attacker’s next shot.

            He pushed the dead weight of the first pirate forward into his friends as his right hand backhanded another pirate across the face. He saw one taking aim at Allura and directed his hand to grab hold of the end of the barrel and squeeze. He pulled his hand back just as the rifle exploded in its owner’s face from the stifled blast.

            “SHIRO!”

            He was knocked to the floor. Allura screamed. Sounds of metal warping and groaning, of things falling. He pushed himself up.

            Another part of the ceiling had given way, probably from a ricocheted blast. They were trapped between two piles of rubble, but at least the pirates couldn’t get through either. But, more importantly, Allura was out cold on the floor.

            “Allura!” He scrambled over to her, eyes darting to take in the signs of her situation. There was no sign of breath on the inside of her mask, which shouldn’t, in and of itself, be a surprise. Her suit should have regulated that to… but a quick check of her suit’s systems report showed that while the integrity of the armor was intact, many of its onboard systems were depleted or failing – including her air regulator. She wasn’t breathing and the suit wasn’t giving her air.

            “Forgive me,” he said as he hauled the helmet off of her. He tipped her head back, pinched her nose shut, and sealed his mouth over hers. He watched her chest rise and fall as he breathed into her, two deep breaths. He sat up and pressed two fingers to her throat. There was a pulse still. _Good. I just have to get her to breathe_. _Breathe, Allura, just **breathe**_ , he demanded as he gave her more of his air. _Come on, please. Please breathe._ Two more breaths, pause, then two more.

            She started coughing when he released her mouth and he sat up and away from her, giving her room to breathe as he eased down a little. She tried to push herself up and he moved to help her, putting an arm around her back to help get her upright. “You okay?”

            She nodded, still catching her breath. He kept his arm around her, studying her face for any sign that she might suddenly _not_ be okay again. She looked up into his eyes…

            …and the next thing he knew, she was kissing him, arms wrapping around him tightly. He didn’t hesitate, holding her and kissing her in return. Her lips tasted better than he’d dreamed they would, and the anxiety that had pushed the gas’s effects away was gone now, leaving this keening hunger in its place.

            She started to lean back, laying down on the floor, but she had tight hold of him and wasn’t letting go. He was happy – more than happy – to let her pull him down on top of her. He threaded his hands into her hair and kissed her deeper. But something… something was nagging at him.

            He pulled away, intending to kiss his way over to her ear. And he was, but he was also pointing out between kisses, “We… need to… get to… the auxiliary bridge…” And now he was at her ear and nothing was more important than tugging on her earlobe with his teeth and tracing the shell of her ear with his tongue.

            She gasped softly, writhing beneath him before she took hold of his face and pulled it back to hers so she could kiss him again and shove her tongue back into his mouth. Her hands were fists in his uniform coat.

            And then she turned her head away sharply, closed her eyes, loosened her grip. “Yes, the bridge. We have to…”

            She was right. Of course she was right. And she was strong enough to resist the gas. It was different for Alteans than humans anyway. He pushed himself up out of her grasp, got back to his feet. He offered her his hand to help her up, but she stood without taking it.

            “Your suit’s damaged,” he told her. “Including the air systems.”

            She picked up her helmet and put it back on. “Well, at least I’ll have a little bit of a filter this way. Something’s better than nothing.”

            He nodded and turned to the first pile of rubble, the one that had initially blocked their path. “We’re going to have to clear a path no matter which way we go. This is the quickest way to the auxiliary bridge.”

            Between her strength and his hand, they actually made pretty short work of things, shoving or tossing the debris to one side or behind them (the better to keep the pirates at bay, though they’d likely given up and moved on to easier targets… if any of them were left).

            “Shiro…” Pidge’s voice was static-y, broken over the comms. “…an you… e?”

            “Pidge?” he asked, moving away from the rubble pile. “Pidge, I’m here.”

            “Target elimina-…”

            Sam’s voice broke in. There was less breakup in his transmission. “We’re rounding up the b- …arties. They weren’t prepa-… -ual resistance. We’ve got them taken care of.”

            “Paladins and MFEs stay outside the ship,” he said, hoping it got through. “Just in case more ‘friends’ show up. Repeat: Paladins and MFEs to escort the _Atlas_.”

            “You got it, Shiro,” he heard Hunk say.

            “There,” Allura said, and he looked back to her to see she’d finished clearing enough of a path for them to get through.

            “Let’s go.” He ran ahead, picturing the layout in his mind. This turn, then that, and they should be at the auxiliary bridge…

            …which had no power. He groaned in annoyance.

            Allura grabbed his right hand and, before he could protest or even question what she was doing, she shoved his hand down against a panel. The bridge lit up in a wave radiating out from his hand. “Need anything else?” she asked brightly (and perhaps a tad smugly).

            _I need all kinds of things_. She looked so damn hot, cocky and confident, and he would’ve loved nothing better than for her to do anything and everything she wanted with him. But he just cleared his throat and shook his head.

            “Sam, what else do I need to do to get this bridge functional?”

            There was no response.

            “Comms must be entirely out here,” Allura guessed.

            Shiro pulled up some screens. “Yep. Everything else is working though.” He made sure shields were up, just in case, and pulled up damage reports. The _Atlas_ was mostly intact and functional; there hadn’t been any hull breaches, but the areas that had taken damage – like the main bridge – had taken those hits _hard_.

            “Comms routes through the main bridge primarily,” he said. “But the whole point of the auxiliary is as a backup. The comms here shouldn’t be down.”

            “It could be they got a bit fried.” She looked around. “Where’s the uplink panel?”

            “Oh, uh…” He pulled up the bridge schematics. “There,” he said, pointing it out to her. They both went over towards it. It was a large plate underneath one of the work stations; he took the time to open it properly and pull it off to access the workings within.

            “I won’t fit in there,” he said immediately.

            “That’s okay,” she said, pulling her helmet back off and handing it to him, “I think I know how to fix this, and it’s easier for me to go in and do it than to try to explain it to you anyway.”

            “You sure it’s a good idea to take this off?” he asked.

            “I have to be able to breathe to crawl in there and fix it. The helmet will just be in my way. Toolkit?”

            “Oh.” He got up, setting the helmet on an empty workstation as he opened the door to the supply cabinet. He pulled out the first toolkit he saw and took it back to her. “Here,” he said as he squatted down.

            “Thank you.” She took the toolkit and started crawling into the tight space. He couldn’t help watching her rear end as she went, just straight up staring at it because he could and because she had one of the finest asses he’d seen in a long, long time. And the legs…

            _Focus_. He heard her moving about in there, heard occasional grunts and sighs as she repositioned herself. _Do **not** think about…_ It was hard not to. He wondered what she sounded like in the throes of passion. He wondered what she’d sound like with him, if she’d sigh or moan or scream his name, if she’d whimper and plead or be demanding and order him about. He honestly didn’t know which he’d prefer, and…

            _FOCUS_. This gas was not helping. He was beginning to regret putting the command areas so far down the list of sections to be filtered and cleared out. _It wouldn’t even really be affecting me if she weren’t so incredible._ No, that wasn’t fair. It wasn’t her fault he was attracted to her. Well, in a sense it was, because she _was_ incredible: smart, clever, strong, compassionate, beautiful, sexy in a way he wasn’t sure she even realized. Or maybe she did and she was just good at downplaying it, because they had to focus on other things like saving the universe.

            Whatever it was, he couldn’t help himself. Well, he couldn’t help the attraction. He’d been doing fine at controlling it before they’d been gassed. _Better this than all of us being dead_.

            “That should do it,” her voice said from inside the panel. “There are parts that need replacing, but I managed a temporary workaround. Well, it would have worked on the Castle, anyway, and the engineering that went into this is similar enough.” She was scooting out on her back, feet first. “I’ve fixed all I can. We’ll just have to try it and hope for the best.”

            “Thank you, Allura.” He offered her his hand again as she cleared the panel. This time, she accepted it, and he pulled her back up to her feet.

            He wasn’t sure if he pulled her into him or if she threw herself at him, but it didn’t matter. The temptation had caught them again, the hunger surging through his blood and, apparently, through hers as well. He pushed her back against the workstation – or maybe she pulled him? or both – and he took hold of her waist, lifting her up to sit on the panel. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and moaned against his mouth; the sound and the feel of her seemed to go straight through him, all the way down to…

            “-iro? Allu-…? Are y- …alright?”

            Shiro pushed himself away from Allura at hearing Sam’s flickering voice. “Sam?” He took a few ticks to steady his voice. “Sam, we’re okay. We’re on the auxiliary bridge, and the comms aren’t quite 100% in here. Allura managed to get them up and going even this much. Do you read?”

            “Yes, I read.” It was stronger, no longer flickering, but it was quiet. Shiro had to try to ignore the sound of Allura catching her breath to focus in on Sam’s voice.

            “The infirmary is as clear as it can be, aside from what gas soaked into clothes and such. Pirates have been taken care of, so the air purification is starting in engineering next.”

            “What exactly has been done about the pirates?”

            “They…”

            He waited. “Sam?”

            There was no response.

            He and Allura both huffed in annoyance. “Well, thank you for your work,” he said to her. “At least we had comms for a little bit.”

            She hopped off the workstation. “Let me try to see if I can reroute.”

            Shiro went back to the command panels, pulling up updates on the state of the ship. No longer under attack, but he’d got that from Pidge. Gas filtration 10% in Engineering. He tried not to look at Allura, partially bent over at that workstation, her back (and backside) to him. The paladin uniforms showed off that gorgeous ass so well.

            It was hard not to look.

            Sometimes Allura looked over her shoulder at him, and he hurriedly looked away, making himself focus on his work. But then he couldn’t get that image out of his head: her head turned, gaze seeking his out… did she know what she was doing to him? Was she doing it deliberately?

            _Alteans react to anyone who fits their preferences. That’s all it is. She’s not reacting to **me**. _

            But he couldn’t stop thinking about it, about what would have happened if Sam’s voice hadn’t interrupted. Would he be hearing her moan, feeling her body against and around his…?

            “I know this is a bad idea,” he said abruptly. “I need someone else to tell me it’s a bad idea.”

            She turned to fully face him. “What is it?”

            “I can’t help thinking that if we just…” He knew he was blushing. “…if we gave in… if we just sort of… got it over with and out of the way, maybe my brain would be clearer?”

            She shook her head. “If we start, we may not stop until we’re clear of the gas and its effects. If we give in once, we’ll get nothing done.”

            He nodded. “That’s what I thought, but like I said, I just needed to hear you say it. _Someone_ to say it. It’s just running around in my head like…” He cleared his throat. “Nevermind. You’re right.” He tried to get back to work.

            “Shiro, if I’m having this much of an effect on you…”

            _SHIT_. “Later,” he snapped immediately, harsher than he meant to. He softened his tone. “We’ll discuss it later, I promise. I can’t right now. If we talk about this, it’ll just make it harder.” _Poor choice of words_. “Uh… more difficult to ignore.”

            She glanced down and he knew she could see that he was half-hard already, the visions of her having their effect on him whether he wanted them to or not. But there was at least one splash of cold water to help him: she suspected. No, more than that, she _knew._

            Because this is what the gas did to humans. It enhanced an existing attraction. The fact that he was reacting to her proved his feelings for her. _We can have this incredibly awkward conversation later, when we’ve set down and aired out and everything’s clear again and I’m not thinking about the various positions I could get you into right here, right now, if you’d let me._

            The comms flickered in and out, never getting more than a word or two. Shiro was getting fed up with his inability to talk with his crew and he needed an excuse. “I’m leaving,” he said. “We had comm contact in the hallway before.”

            Allura nodded. “I’ll stay here to continue working on them.”

            They stared at each other for a long moment before he could force himself to walk out the door.

            He had to go all the way back to the part of the hallway they were trapped in. “Sam?”

            Nothing. _Great._ He had to clear the rubble from the second blockage. He wished Allura were here just for the extra set of strong hands. It took him a lot longer to clear an exit on his own.

            He managed to wear it down enough to climb over. Aside from the bodies, there were no pirates here. “Sam?”

            “Shiro!” _Thank goodness._ “Engineering is almost clear. Command centers are next.”

            “We need to repair the main bridge _and_ the auxiliary. Any word from the Paladins?”

            “Shiro, Lance here.” It was good to hear his voice. “I found a planet for us. Uninhabited, breathable air, nice climate, and I think there might even be some natural hot springs. We’re overdue for a vacation.”

            “Lance,” Keith grumped, “we don’t need hot springs.”

            “But it’s still a good planet to set down and air out on,” Shiro said. “It’ll do.”

            “A wormhole would get us there faster,” Lance pointed out unnecessarily, “and get me & Keith back to the _Atlas_ faster, too.”

            “Sam, is the teludav still operational?”

            “Should be. We’d just need Allura.”

            “Comms are down where she is; I’ll have to relay this to her myself. In the meantime, Keith, Lance, go ahead and start making your way back here.”

            They agreed and he headed back towards the auxiliary bridge.

            No sooner was he through the door than Allura grabbed hold of him. She shoved him against the nearest wall, pinning him against it with her body as she kissed him hard and deep. He buried his hands in her hair again, the better to hold her in place as he kissed her back. She rocked her hips against his, ran her hands down his body.

            He moaned at the back of his throat and tried to pull his mouth away to talk to her, but she kept reclaiming his lips for another purpose. “Allura…”

            “Just once,” she pleaded.

            “Bad idea, remember?” But he was kissing her throat just above the collar of her armor, his hands dropping to her back and sliding down towards the curve of her ass.

            “I don’t care. I need you too much.”

            He wanted so badly to feel her skin against his; he ached to be inside her finally, to know what it was like to have her and to give himself to her in turn. He’d had so many fantasies of her, and they had normally included cuddling and talking and laughing – sweet, simple things. But now all he wanted was the heat and the sweat, the wetness of her, their hands gripping each other, the release of…

            _Release. That’s it. That’s all she wants. She doesn’t want **me**. She just wants someone to get off with._ And as much as he wanted to be that someone right now, that and the reminder of what he needed to tell her gave him the strength to push her away and hold her at arms’ length.

            “Allura,” he panted, “we need a wormhole.”

            “I need _you_ ,” she whimpered, using her superior strength to press herself against him again.

            He’d wanted to hear her say that for so long, but not like this. “No, you don’t.” He made himself push her away, made himself back out the door and leave. One foot in front of the other, one more step farther away from almost everything he’d ever wanted. Away from her, back to his duty …and communication range.

            “Okay, hopefully she’s on her way,” he said once he was sure Sam could hear him.

            “‘Hopefully’?” Sam repeated. “Is she okay?”

            Shiro cleared his throat. “She took a bad hit earlier. Knocked out her suit’s air recycling and… well, she hasn’t been wearing her helmet. But she’s okay. We’re okay.”

            Just then, Allura strode past him. “Allura, let Sam know you’re…”

            She smacked him across the face, hard. He was sure she could have done it harder; his head was still attached to his neck after all. She glared at him hotly. “I’m on my way to the teludav controls, assuming they’re still functional.”

            It took Sam a second to respond. “…ah, yes, they should be.” _He probably heard that smack._

            “Good.” She stormed off.

            “Shiro, are you okay?” _Yeah, he definitely heard it._

            “Fine,” he said. “Let Allura know she might need to wormhole Keith and Lance back first.”

            “I Can Hear You,” her voice sniped over the comms.

            Shiro winced. “Paladins, MFEs, return to hangars in preparation for wormhole.”

 

 

            It took the better part of a movement to clear everything, get all the clothes and such washed and everyone decontaminated. Lance was right: the planet had some lovely hot springs, and they were happy to make use of them. Everyone was having a nice vacation except for the pirates (though even they had to be aired out a little, to be on the safe side; after all, the gas was deadly to them when they weren’t wearing masks) … and Shiro and Allura.

            She was avoiding Shiro who, in turn, kept his distance from her because he didn’t want to make things more uncomfortable. Still, that couldn’t go on forever. For one thing, gossip was running rampant about what, exactly, had happened on the auxiliary bridge when it was just the two of them out of comm range of everyone else.

            He couldn’t let it continue like this. He asked Romelle where he could find Allura, and she directed him to a small grove of shady trees. She was sitting there, reading something on a comtab.

            He cleared his throat as he approached.

            She paid him no mind.

            He thought about trying to start with some small talk, but that was just stalling. He jumped right to it. “I’m sorry about my behavior.”

            “What about it?” she asked coldly, not looking up from her reading.

            “I… when I was… when we were… I shouldn’t have done any of that. It wasn’t right to…”

            She rolled her eyes and lowered the comtab to glare up at him. “That’s not it,” she informed him. “By the Ancients, you don’t even know what you’re apologizing for!”

            His brow furrowed. “It’s not about all the times I… acted inappropriately?”

            “No! Of course not!” She set the comtab down in the grass beside her.

            “Okay then you’re right; I have no idea what’s going on.”

            She groaned and stood, turning to face him fully. “I don’t care that you grabbed me, kissed me, touched me! I loved it, I welcomed it! I was overjoyed that you wanted me.”

            “Overjoyed?” He blinked.

            “For humans, that… that meant that you were attracted to me, correct?” He couldn’t do anything but nod, he was so surprised. She sighed and looked down at her hands, fidgeting. “I was so happy to know that you wanted me. I didn’t think you ever would.”

            “B-but… for Alteans…”

            She shot him a withering look. “Just because we _will_ screw someone we’re not attracted to while under the influence of that flower, doesn’t mean…!” She cleared her throat as she started blushing. “Doesn’t mean I’m not attracted to you.”

            “You are?” He sounded like an idiot, he knew that, but it was too hard to believe.

            “YES,” she said, practically stabbing the word at him. “And then you… you had the audacity to tell me that I didn’t want you? That I didn’t need you? You don’t know my heart, Shiro! You don’t know what I long for and how dare you…”

            “I’m sorry!” He swallowed hard. “I am so, so sorry. You’re right, I misjudged. I was so sure you’d never want me. I didn’t want to be with you like that, under that sort of influence. I didn’t want you to look back and regret it. I didn’t want to do something you didn’t truly want.”

            “You were thinking about what _you_ wanted – and didn’t want – and not about me. But then, given the gas’s effects, I suppose I can’t entirely blame you for that. And it is good of you to have wanted to control yourself given that we were both ‘under the influence’ at the time.” She eased down, just a little, and folded her arms. “But I’m not under any sort of influence right now, and I’m telling you that I truly want you, Shiro. It’s just usually not that… potent.”

            He nodded. “Yeah, it was pretty hard to ignore. _You_ – and the feelings I have for you – were hard to ignore.”

            “You could have had me. I nearly begged you.” She seemed to be studying him, to see what his response would be to that reminder.

            He gave her the truth, of course. “Even if I’d known then what I know now, I… I would still rather not have. Not like that. Especially for a first time together. We should be able to take our time, to get to know each other’s bodies and enjoy ourselves. Not rush through just to sate some physiological need.”

            Apparently that satisfied her; she nodded and uncrossed her arms. “I’m sorry I smacked you. I shouldn’t have. You didn’t deserve that, but being irrationally angry at you for rejecting me helped keep my head clear. I couldn’t give myself over to one emotional need, so I went to another. I hope I didn’t hurt you too badly.”

            “Eh, I deserved it.”

            “You didn’t. I shouldn’t have lashed out like that.”

            “I’m fine,” he insisted. “Neither of us were really thinking straight then. And I know that you’d never hurt me normally.”

            “Thank you.”

            “Are you okay? I mean, are… are _we_ okay?”

            She considered that before nodding. “I think we are. Do you agree?”

            He smiled. “I do. But, uh… well, now that we’ve confessed all that…”

            She sidled up to him, smile sliding into a smirk. “I know a _very_ private spring not too far from here. We can… _talk_ ,” she said, putting some significance on the word.

            He grinned. “Lead the way.”


End file.
